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Park Avenue Bank Failure Tied to Fraud

A federal complaint alleges that Charles J. Antonucci, the former president of failed New York City-based Park Avenue Bank, engaged in fraud against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

NEW YORK TheStreet) -- Charles J. Antonucci, the former president of failed Park Avenue Bank, is accused of engaging in fraud against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Troubled Assets Relief Program, according to a federal complaint.

Antonucci was taken into custody on Monday, according to a Dow Jones report.

Park Avenue Bank was shut down by the New York State Banking Department on Friday. The FDIC subsequently sold the failed bank's deposits and assets for a small premium to Valley National Bancorp ( VLY). Antonucci had resigned from Park Avenue Bank in October.

Among the many charges detailed in the complaint, Antonucci is accused of falsifying transactions to back his claim of investing $6.5 million of his own money to provide much-needed capital to the bank in connection to Park Avenue Bank's application for TARP money.

Other allegations in the complaint include approving a loan application that didn't meet the bank's credit policy requirements "in order to enrich himself and another individual" and demanding "things of value" from another loan applicant, including the use of an airplane for personal trips.

Ongoing Bank Failure Coverage

All previous bank and thrift failures since the beginning of 2008 are detailed in TheStreet.com's interactive bank failure map:

The bank failure map is color-coded, with states having the greatest number of failures highlighted in red, and states with no failures in grey. By hovering your mouse over a state you can see the combined 2008-2009 totals for each state. Then click the state top open a detailed map with pinpointing the locations and providing additional information for each bank failure.

-- Written by Philip van Doorn in Jupiter Fla.

Philip W. van Doorn joined TheStreet.com Ratings., Inc., in February 2007. He is the senior analyst responsible for assigning financial strength ratings to banks and savings and loan institutions. He also comments on industry and regulatory trends. Mr. van Doorn has fifteen years experience, having served as a loan operations officer at Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, Florida, and as a credit analyst at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, where he monitored banks in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Mr. van Doorn has additional experience in the mutual fund and computer software industries. He holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Long Island University.